Vol. 398 No. 10
105 Mr. Roche asked the Minister for Agriculture and Food if, in view of the evident concern at the spread of BSE, Mad Cow Disease, through the British dairy herd, he will take steps to ban the importation of all British beef and beef products until the level of risk to the public from such products is established; and if he will make a statement on the matter.
106 Mr. Roche asked the Minister for Agriculture and Food if he will ban all animal foodstuffs, whether produced in this county of elsewhere, containing material associated with the spread of BSE, Mad Cow Disease; and if he will make a statement on the matter.
107 Mr. Boylan asked the Minister for Agriculture and Food the steps he is taking in relation to the very serious threat to the beef industry in this county as a result of the media coverage of the problems of Mad Cow Disease in order to reassure both the consumers and the farmers of the county in relation to the situation here with particular reference to the Border areas; and if he will make a statement on the matter.
108 Mr. D'Arcy asked the Minister for Agriculture and Food if his attention has been drawn to the very serious threat to the beef industry in the county as a result of the media coverage of the problems of Mad Cow Disease; if any steps are being taken by his Department to reassure both the consumers and the farmers of the country in relation to the situation here; and if he will make a statement on the matter.
I propose to take Questions Nos. 105, 106, 107 and 108 together.
Since January 1989, 19 cases of bovine spongiform encephalopathy have been confirmed. Five were imported animals and investigations into the remainder suggest an association with imported meat and bonemeal. The disease was made notifiable with effect from 1 April 1989 and affected or suspected animals are slaughtered immediately and their carcases destroyed. Routine monitoring is carried out at our meat plants and suspected cases are referred for diagnosis. In all instances, that diagnosis has yielded negative results. My Department have also purchased the progeny of affected dams. This is simply a precautionary measure as there is no evidence that the disease is transmitted from animal to offspring.
The BSE situations in the UK and Ireland are not comparable. There have been 19 cases here out of a total cattle population of seven million as opposed to over 13,000 in a British cattle population of 12 million. These figures indicate that the UK has an indigenous source of the disease whereas we do not. This is reflected in the fact that while the EC has imposed restrictions on the export of cattle from the UK, similar action has not been deemed necessary in the case of our exports.
